The National Center for Education Statistics has released a new report on the progress made by students who were sophomores in high school in the year 2002 over the next decade .
The report reveals several differences between Black and White students that may be of interest.
- 92 percent of White students had earned a high school diploma by 2012 compared to 84 percent of Black students.
- 86.2 percent of White high school sophomores in 2002 had enrolled in postsecondary education over the next decade. For Blacks the figure was 81.5 percent.
- 57.5 of White students who enrolled in postsecondary education attended a four-year institution. For Blacks who entered higher education, 44.5 percent attended a four-year institution.
- For White high school sophomores in 2002 who later enrolled in college, 45 percent eventually earned a at least a bachelor’s degree. For Blacks, the figure is 25 percent.
- For Whites who earned a bachelor’s degree, 49.1 percent did so in the traditional four-year period. For Blacks, 36.3 percent completed their bachelor’s degree in four years.
- Nine percent of Whites had earned a master’s degree or higher compared to 5 percent of Blacks.
- Nearly 67 percent of Blacks who enrolled in higher education took out a student loan compared to 60 percent of Whites.
In addition to data on educational attainment, the report included statistics on employment, marital status and other characteristics of this group of students who were high school sophomores in 2002.
The full report, Early Millennials: The Sophomore Class of 2002 a Decade Later, can be downloaded here.
